Mistletoe
by CerberusProject
Summary: Told from William's point of view; William is invited to a Christmas party in London by distant relatives and Dantalion somehow sweet talks himself into being allowed to come along. A request by skeptic-manila for Drabble December.


**Title: Mistletoe**

**Words: 2,653**

**Rating: K+**

**Pair: Dantalion/William**

**William's POV**

**Please R&R  
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><p>It began with a kiss. Completely to my surprise and quite out of nowhere, Dantalion had yet again violated my personal space in an even more intimate way. Oh, I wanted to slap the daylights out of that man, but that type of action would have drawn attention to us, something I could not in any way afford.<p>

Allow me to digress - it was Christmas Eve just last year. I had arrived in London the day previous after a long carriage ride from Stratford to visit my cousin's family. Kevin, of course, had come along as my guardian. It was a long standing tradition that we would spend the holidays together after my parents passing, and I had been looking forward to his company. Somehow Dantalion had invited himself along - well, more like he had convinced me that it would somehow be necessary for him to be included in our journey. In truth, I only allowed it on account that he would have been alone at the school. Camio was to stay with Maria and John. Sytry most likely would have found a way to attend as well, but thankfully he was called away by that uncle of his on something of importance. Baphomet himself was resting peacefully by then, and so Dantalion would have remained secluded in his castle.

I felt sorry for him, not that he needs to know that. It doesn't matter since he got what he wanted. Kevin was less than pleased, but after a few threats of holy fire and brimstone, he let it be. It was my decision, not his. And, oh, I got a lecture later.

In any case, we had been invited to attend a gathering hosted by my distant family. I hadn't seen them in years, not since I was very little, at my parent's funeral. They were very inviting and I was drawn into the usual small talk. How big I had gotten, how well-mannered I was and the like. Dantalion was an instant celebrity among the ladies as usual. I remember I had been annoyed by their fawning over him - I hadn't know why then, but it's clear to me now. How daft I was.

Ah, I'm getting away from myself.

I had set to mingle as best I could with both family and family friends alike. Many were influential members of society, others common socialites and wealthy land owners. I talked to as many as I could, introducing myself and conversing until my welcome had been worn out. Most were impressed by my intellect and even a few girls asked me to dance. I obliged them as a gentleman should, even though I am not the most eloquent dancer.

It was all in the name of making an impression. My plans were simple; make certain I would be remembered by these members of elite houses so when I graduated college I would have possible backers. The challenges of an orphan with a brilliant mind and an uncertain, these were, and I planned to face them head on with my chin up.

The party wound down as the hour grew later and later. I had lost Kevin at some point in between conversations and dancing, though something in me said he would not be far off. I had tired from the exuberant amount of social stimulation and contented myself with standing off somewhere to the side. Perhaps I had garnished myself a bit too much with drink, for I remember fatigue coming over me far earlier than usual, or should I say it centered mainly in my head.

It was how I had found myself somewhere between rooms just off of the grand hall where the party was being held in that palace of a townhouse. In my search for a place to sit and rest my knackered brain I heard a voice called my name - deep and rich and always a little too loud; Dantalion obviously.

"William!" he called and I barely looked over my shoulder to acknowledge him. I wasn't in the mood to put up with his antics that night. Even less so was I intrigued by the thought of hearing of his suave conquests with nearly every girl of a betrothing age. I carried on, only to have my wrist seized in one of those big hands. I had no choice but to halt - I was in no position to tell him off, not after all the work I had done in putting myself out. If any of those men had witnessed our squabbling it would have been disastrous.

"What is it?" I said as I turned towards him sharply. Though I pulled he did not release the grip he had on me. I stumbled slightly and he must have seen it. Dantalion was always observant at the worst of times.

"Where are you going? I'm supposed to keep an eye on you." This simple statement annoyed me at the time. I don't know why, but it did. Perhaps it was how presumptuous Dantalion sounded, or how demeaning his words were without his ever realizing. Meathead.

"Kevin is to look after me," I snapped in response," not you." Finally I thought to pull my arm free of his grasp and the duke was mindful enough to let go. However, he was not mindful enough to keep that mouth of his shut. We did argue, though I do not remember exactly what was said. We were discrete as possible though more than once I had to warn him to lower his voice - Dantalion is so damned loud. I don't think he knows how loud he really is.

Regardless, we carried on. I myself was feeling much more sober in the midst of it and I do recall informing him that I was not his charge nor a child meant to be kept on a leash. He looked genuinely hurt. It was that look that sullied his usually overconfident features that quieted me. Our gazes averted and I tried to change the subject in an attempt to make peace. Dantalion's mind was elsewhere.

"Look, William," he bayed my attentions skyward. "Mistletoe." My eyes turned aloft and widened as they caught sight of the sprig of the infamous bush hung in a veiled innocence in the great archway, wrapped neatly in red ribbon. My mind went blank then, as if all my senses had left me. I hadn't pondered whether or not Dantalion new of the very western tradition to do with the plant, but it mattered not. As I said, he kissed me.

In a moment of boldness he was well known for, Dantalion took my shoulders in his hands and took full advantage of my skyward tilted sights. At first I remember my body tensing in its entirety and this small, embarrassingly undignified squeak resonated in my throat as I realized just what was happening. My hands rose to rest upon his chest and my only thoughts then were to shove him from me and make my escape. But somewhere in that warm, protective embrace the thought became lost to me. It faded from me, as did my strength, and within seconds I had lost the will to resist him.

You must understand how unsettling this is to admit, even now. How risqué and utterly taboo this act was. At that time I had tried to make sense of it with logical reasoning. I had assumed my willingness to participate in such eroticism the product of hormones and nothing more, though never in my life had I neither expressed nor felt interest thus. I had been stubborn. I wanted an explanation as to why Dantalion's warmth encasing my being made me so pleasantly drowsy or why the loss of his lips upon mine left me with such profound longing that it felt nearly physical.

When we parted it was not in entirety. Dantalion's hands did not release their grip, but instead loosened it. He was allowing me leave if it was wished, though for whatever reason the humbled asking in his eyes captivated me and I did not stray. Had they always been so beautifully crimson? And why, I asked myself then, had no one but myself ever noticed. No one noticed anything off about him - not his eyes nor his strength nor his obviously faded yet foreign accent. Just when had I been paying so much attention to him? To this day I am as of yet unaware.

"William?" he questioned - he must have been terrified then. I wonder what he had been thinking at that moment - probably something along the lines of how I would reject him or how he was moments from being struck. As mentioned before, the thought did cross my mind. He was lucky I had forgotten it in those eyes of his. Be hands began to slip from his chest and by some latent instinct they gripped at his jacket before they could fall. He smiled at this. It was faint, but it was there. I turned my eyes from him and looked back towards the party beyond the archway. I think I was just as afraid as he was then, but for very different reasons.

"Why did you do that?" I asked almost too quietly for Dantalion to hear. He hesitated a moment, as if he were trying to confirm with himself that what he had heard was what had been said.

"You know why." When the answer came, I tensed once more. Yes, indeed, I knew. 'His perversion' I called it in my ignorance - homosexuality is such risky business, you see, and I was wholly adversed to the idea once t had been so profoundly thrust upon my young mind. I was afraid for my future, you see, and in my short sightedness I found his affections a threat.

That feeling ended that night.

I hadn't answered him, nor did I speak directly on the matter presented. I didn't trust myself then with the complex emotions that Dantalion seemed to stir within me. These were very private feelings, something I had still been figuring out when i would allow myself to think on them at all. So I offered another topic of conversation, one a little less personal.

"You seemed to be enjoying yourself dancing," I said, and thoroughly intended to continue by mentioning why he was not still working his lackluster charms on dunder-headed girls. I did not get so far - Dantalion, as always, has a very real skill in turning a discussion to unwanted places.

"Were you jealous?" My head snapped back towards him so fast I'd nearly caused it strain. I had a mind to chew him out for that cocky demeanor of his, but my mind was still on the party and those who could be no more than a few meters away. I merely frowned and made a quiet retort.

"What reason would I have to be jealous?" He smiled then - how is it he could always see right through me?

"You were jealous."

"Shut up." I hadn't been, really. Not per say. I think I had been annoyed at how easily he could mingle and woo others with his charms. I have nothing of the like. I am blunt and my own style of finesse can be hard hitting. Whether it be experience or something else, I don't know, but Dantalion had this over me in spades. I hadn't even considered that other side of the coin - lovely ladies with hardly a thought past marriage and a wealthy life thereafter in their brains, all throwing themselves at that muscle brained bugger. In that moment I realized how it had gotten to me without my even knowing. I said nothing in response. There was nothing I could say. For once, as did happen in a great while, Dantalion had been right.

We stood there, just like that. For how long I do not know. Ages maybe, or perhaps only a few seconds. I suppose it doesn't matter now, but then it was anguish. I wanted to find Kevin, to leave and go back to our hotel for the night, but Dantalion had other plans. His hands slid from their rest upon my shoulders; one guided my arm upwards to drape itself over his broad shoulder, the other trailed the length of my arm and took hold of my hand. When he was certain I would not pull away his free arm snaked around my waist, his hand against my back. He guided me closer, yet kept us far apart enough to be chaste, and slowly we began to move. I did not resist him.

He kept our movements in time and I recall feeling somewhat awkward at being lead, yet I did not dislike the intimate act. It was a chance to view certain things on the other side so to say, but still firmly within my own shoes. I hadn't imagined that to feel liberating, nor had I seen it as a freedom before that night. Dantalion is a strange sort like that; logical and wise even in his idiocy. To be ageless - to men like him, it was a gift.

My eyes continued to gaze towards the party every now and then, though no longer in fear of being seen, but in a curious wonder. Regardless of our very personal situation, not one guest had noticed a thing. My mind had wandered to a scripture I had read somewhere in that damn book Mathers had given me, one of many. Dantalion knew all thoughts of both man and woman and could change them to suit his will. Could it be that he had used this gift to his advantage with my family and their friends? Did he use his influence on me? Somehow I wasn't distressed by this idea, but rather I was quite calm. Just for tonight, I thought, I would allow myself to be swayed by him. Dantalion, after all, would never allow me to come to harm. I was soothed by this, and let myself be carried away by it.

"…Did you know that mistletoe is toxic?" I don't know what lead me to say that. I must have been scrambling for words. The quiet between us had been getting to me, as did our position. Damn him for being so tall - the arm that was draped over his shoulder soon ached with discomfort. Eventually it dropped back to his chest once more. He chuckled, and I could feel myself blushing.

"The leaves were also used in medicine," Dantalion countered, confounding me with his level of obscure knowledge. "It was used to sooth women in childbirth and put inside pillows to help promote restful sleep." He paused, his brow quirked just a bit. "And give nice dreams." The way he said it sped my heart in an instant and immediately I glared at him.

"Shut up."

He chuckled again and eventually my displeased expression faded. I felt Dantalion leaning closer once more and this time I did not resist, but instead reciprocated after only a moments hesitance. He stopped just shy of my lips. Our eyes met and we looked at each other for what I perceived to be far too long a time. He was searching for something in my gaze, as too was I in his. He made no further moves to kiss me, only remained stationary as I contemplated. The decision was mine, and I made it with a sincerity born of the moment as I shifted my weight to my toes and leaned upward. We were so close, barely a hare's breath away when—

"Young master?"

Our collective gasps sounded. Our parting came quickly as our attentions focused on our unexpected intruder.

I don't think I've ever seen Dantalion go so pale.


End file.
